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Richard M. Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 - August 29, 2015) was the 35th president of the United States of America, from 1961 to 1977. The Republican candidate in the 1960 presidential election, he was sworn into office on January 20, 1961. He had previously served as Vice President from 1953 to 1961. Under Nixon's terms, the United States launched its first man into space, successfully defeated the communist forces in North Vietnam, and re-approached the Soviet Union. He was often considered one of the greatest American presidents of the 20th century, his popularity resulting in the repeal of the twenty-second amendment, and a four term presidency. Nixon retired to the southwest Commonwealth in the late 1970s. He lived to the ripe old age of 102 before he passed away on August 29, 2015. First Term Richard M. Nixon was sworn into office in January of 1961, after beating the Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy in a landslide. Nixon promised the nation that he was going to take a hard stance against communism, whether it be behind a curtain of iron, or one of bamboo, and headed the "Congressional Committee on Un-American Activity" (CCUAA), dedicated to purging "radical" elements from the United States government. College professors, union leaders and other "subversives" found themselves testifying before the House of Representatives, often receiving harsh sentences for their supposed espionage. The first real crisis of Nixon's presidency took place only three months after he had been sworn into office. Believing that the communist government of Cuba presented a major threat to stability in the region, the CIA trained a force of 5,000 Cuban exiles to invade the island-nation, and overthrow Castro's government. After personally delivering a speech to the exiles in Miami, he ordered the invasion to begin on April 17. Within the week, the exiles had taken Havana, forcing Castro to flee into exile himself. The beginning of 1962 proved itself to be a rather uneventful year for the president, but that quickly changed in October, when the Chinese detonated their first atomic bomb. This stunned and horrified the U.S. government, and in response, the U.S. nuclear arsenal was increased substantially, with routine hydrogen bomb tests in the American southwest taking place several times a week. During a 1963 visit to the city of Dallas in Texas, an assassination attempt was made on President Nixon's life by Lee Harvey Oswald, a former marine and communist dissident. After firing three times on the presidential motorcade (Hitting him once in the wrist), he was gunned down by Dallas Police officer J.D. Tippett shortly after fleeing the scene. This event made Nixon paranoid, and the following month, his "CCUAA" trials increased in intensity. The American people, on the other hand, saw Nixon as a strong, courageous leader, and this sentiment helped bring the country closer together, both in their shared sense of patriotism, and their fear/paranoia of communist infiltration. In his final year in office, Nixon passed an extremely important piece of legislation - The Commonwealth Reorganization Act of 1964. In short, the act reorganized the 48 U.S. states (Plus the District of Columbia and the Alaska/Hawaii territories) into thirteen commonwealths. With this act, the American flag was redesigned to feature thirteen stars in a circle, with one large star in the center (Very similar to the "Cowpens' Flag" of the revolutionary period). 1964 ended in great tension, however, when two U.S. destroyers were attacked and sunk (allegedly) by a North Vietnamese warship (In reality, the CIA had detonated hidden explosives aboard the ships, to create a false flag attack). In response, Nixon took a hard stance against Asian communism, and this became his main platform for the 1964 presidential election, in which he faced Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy, and independent Barry Goldwater, who had become disgusted with Nixon's actions and split away from the Republicans in 1962. Category:Characters Category:Real-World People